United States v. Fridman

337 F. Supp. 3d 259
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedNovember 14, 2018
Docket15 Misc. 64
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 337 F. Supp. 3d 259 (United States v. Fridman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Fridman, 337 F. Supp. 3d 259 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

VICTOR MARRERO, United States District Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 11, 2015, Petitioner the United States of America ("Petitioner" or the "United States") filed a petition to enforce two Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") summonses (the "Summonses") against Respondent Natalio Fridman ("Respondent" or "Fridman"). (See"Petition," Dkt. No. 1.) The Summonses request various records and documents (the "Document Requests"), and were issued in connection with an IRS investigation into Fridman's tax liabilities for the tax year 2008. One of the Summonses was issued against Fridman in his individual capacity, and the other was issued against Fridman in his capacity as trustee of the David Marcelo Trust.

On November 25, 2015, the Court granted the Petition. (See"November 2 5 Order," Dkt. No. 2 8.) The Court determined that (1) Respondent's blanket invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination was insufficient to establish his entitlement to that protection; (2) even if Respondent's invocation of the Fifth Amendment had been sufficient, Respondent would have been required to produce the documents requested by the Summonses because of certain exceptions to the Fifth Amendment act-of-production privilege; and (3) the United States satisfied its burden and demonstrated that it was entitled to enforcement of the Summonses. (See id. at 3-4.) The Court therefore *263ordered Respondent to "produce all documents in his possession, custody, or control that are responsive to the Summonses' document requests" and to "appear for an interview ... to provide testimony identifying and/or authenticating documents produced by Respondent in his capacity as a representative of a trust." (Id. at 4.)

Fridman appealed, and on December 13, 2016, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a summary order vacating and remanding the November 25 Order. (See"Appellate Order," Dkt. No. 33.) While the Second Circuit found that the Court did not err in determining that the United States satisfied its burden of showing the relevance of the requested documents (see id. at 3), the appellate court concluded that the record was insufficiently developed for it to review the Court's determination regarding the applicability of the Fifth Amendment act-of-production privilege (see id. at 4). The Second Circuit directed the Court to "(1) provide a record sufficient for appellate review in determining whether Fridman properly invoked his Fifth Amendment act of production privilege; and (2) identify any applicable exceptions to the act of production privilege for each document request and determine the period of time for which the exception applies." (Id. at 5.)

On April 28, 2017, Fridman filed a brief on remand objecting to enforcement of the Summonses. (See"Respondent Brief," Dkt. No. 39.) He asserts his Fifth Amendment privilege as the basis for his objection to the Document Requests that remain open, namely, Document Request Nos. 1-4, 7-17, and 20. (See id. at 2, 8.) Fridman argues that no exception to the Fifth Amendment act-of-production privilege -- i.e., the required records doctrine, the foregone conclusion doctrine, and the collective entity doctrine -- applies to these Document Requests, thus meaning that he cannot be compelled to produce the documents. (See id. at 8-20.) Additionally, Fridman argues that he does not possess or have control of documents responsive to Document Request Nos. 3, 8, 9, and 10. (See id. at 21-23.) Finally, Fridman argues that in camera review of responsive documents, as contemplated by the Second Circuit, would be inappropriate and unnecessary. (See id. at 24-25.)

On June 23, 2017, the United States filed a brief on remand in support of its petition to enforce the Summonses and requesting oral argument. (See"Petitioner Brief," Dkt. No. 42.) Petitioner asserts that Respondent has conceded that the required records exception applies to certain Document Requests, and that Fridman has produced documents responsive to Document Request Nos. 4 and 13 that fall within that exception. (See id. at 7 n.5.) Petitioner argues that the Fifth Amendment act-of-production privilege does not protect Fridman from producing documents and providing testimony in response to the other Document Requests because one or both of the other exceptions -- the collective entity doctrine and/or the foregone conclusion doctrine -- apply to the requests. (See id. at 7-24.) In support of its arguments, Petitioner filed the declarations of Theresa Alvarez1 ("Alvarez Declaration," Dkt. No. 43), Tina B. Masuda2 *264(Dkt. No. 44), and John M. Gillies3 (Dkt. No. 45).

On July 28, 2017, Respondent filed a reply memorandum. ("Respondent Reply," Dkt. No. 51.) In addition to reasserting his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, Respondent argues that the United States cannot expand the scope of the Summonses to cover documents held by Respondent as custodian of any corporation or as trustee of any trust other than the David Marcelo Trust. (See id. at 1-3.) On August 18, 2017, Petitioner filed a sur-reply memorandum. ("Petitioner Sur-Reply," Dkt. No. 53.) Petitioner not only counters Respondent's objections relating to the foregone conclusion doctrine and the collective entity doctrine, but also argues that the scope of the Summonses is not limited by the capacity in which Fridman was served. (See id. at 1-5.)

On September 25, 2018, the United States sent the Court a letter informing it of a recent decision in another case in this district -- United States v. Glaister, et al., No. 18-mc-213 -- regarding enforcement of IRS summonses. (See"September 25 Letter," Dkt. No. 56.) On October 3, 2018, Fridrman responded to the September 25 Letter, arguing that Glaister is inapposite to the present case because it involved "business entities," not "domestic trusts" like the David Marcelo Trust at issue in this case. (See"October 3 Letter," Dkt. No. 59.) On October 15, 2018, the United States responded to the October 3 Letter, arguing that the collective entity doctrine does not distinguish between domestic and business trusts. (See"October 15 Letter," Dkt. No. 61.)

The Court previously determined that the United States has made a sufficient showing that the documents sought by the Summonses are relevant to the IRS investigation:

The Government satisfied its burden under United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 85 S.Ct. 248, 13 L.Ed.2d 112 (1964), by demonstrating that it is entitled to enforcement of its Summonses with regard to its document requests as modified and/or clarified ... and with regard to testimony ... identifying and/or authenticating documents produced by Respondent in his capacity as a representative of a trust.

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Bluebook (online)
337 F. Supp. 3d 259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-fridman-ilsd-2018.